Acknowledgements

I am eternallyindebted to my parents, Sayyid Muhammad Raza and Maleka Zainab Banu, who raised me to love the Ahlul Bayt and who taught me the Urdu language; I have also learned much, both in terms of inspiration and guidance, from Hasan Abdullah Moosavi, an Urdu poet (Al Mir), residing in Hyderabad, India and who also happens to be my maternal uncle;

My children, Mehdi and Abiha, inspired and motivated me to translate the marsias and continually oblige me by struggling to learn Urdu; It would be inexcusable to not mention my sisters, Sarah Naqvi and Soghra Raza, who have always encouraged my poetic blabber and listen patiently (or at least pretend to listen) to my ramblings; their respective husbands, Luthfe Naqvi and Sayyid Qayem Husain have also assisted in the circulation of this book; Finally, my many thanks to the readers of Meer Anis' and Mirza Dabeer's marsias in Hyderabad, India, whose beautiful recitation of the marsias fostered in me a love for the poetry, the reading of which I continue to enjoy to this day.